Table 2 Demographic and back pain baseline characteristics of study population by randomization group and recruitment method
From: Comparing recruitment strategies in a study of acupuncture for chronic back pain
| Â | Acupuncture | Usual care | Total | Â | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Mailed | Magazine | Mailed | Magazine | Mailed | Magazine | Â |
| Â | Letter | Ad | Letter | Ad | Letter | Ad | p for |
| Â | (n = 150) | (n = 85) | (n = 46) | (n = 31) | (n = 196) | (n = 116) | difference* |
Demographic characteristics | |||||||
Age, mean(SD) years | 46 (13) | 49 (13) | 45 (12) | 49 (13) | 46 (13) | 49 (13) | 0.07 |
Female, % | 61 | 60 | 61 | 71 | 61 | 63 | 0.70 |
White, % | 89 | 93 | 89 | 84 | 89 | 91 | 0.73 |
Hispanic origin, % | 4 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0.37 |
College graduate % | 52 | 71 | 50 | 58 | 52 | 67 | 0.01 |
Married, % | 63 | 55 | 63 | 65 | 63 | 58 | 0.38 |
Household income $45,000+/year, % | 66 | 62 | 76 | 74 | 73 | 67 | 0.26 |
Employed, % | 81 | 78 | 83 | 71 | 81 | 76 | 0.27 |
Back Pain characteristics | |||||||
Duration of low back pain at least one year, % | 68 | 58 | 80 | 61 | 71 | 59 | 0.03 |
Prior surgery, hospitalization or injections, % | 13 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 0.78 |
Reduced activity for 7+ days in last 3 months due to low back pain, % | 29 | 34 | 30 | 32 | 29 | 34 | 0.42 |
Days of pain in last 3 months: | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   mean (SD) number of days | 68 (26) | 72 (21) | 72 (25) | 78 (21) | 69 (25) | 74 (21) | 0.43 |
   median number of days | 80 | 80 | 90 | 90 | 80 | 83 |  |
Pain below knee % | 17 | 18 | 17 | 23 | 17 | 19 | 0.63 |
Symptom bothersomeness, mean (SD) (0-10 scale) | 5.1 (2.2) | 4.9 (2.3) | 5.4 (2.0) | 5.7 (2.2) | 5.1 (2.1) | 5.1 (2.3) | 0.98 |
RMDQ, mean (SD) (0-23 scale) | 9.9 (5.1) | 9.5 (4.9) | 10.6 (4.8) | 10.0 (5.1) | 10.1 (5.0) | 9.6 (5.0) | 0.45 |
Expectation of at least moderate improvement in low back pain in next year, % | 45 | 44 | 50 | 52 | 46 | 46 | 0.99 |